Ferguson mayor: Few communities face 'this level of scrutiny'

The mayor of Ferguson, Mo. said on Sunday that 2014’s shooting of Michael Brown had produced a level scrutiny there that other cities rarely experience.

“You know, very few communities in this country have undergone this level of scrutiny, and the city of Ferguson has after thousands of emails have been examined, court documents, arrest records, we know what the issues are according to the Department of Justice,” Mayor James Knowles said on ABC’s “This Week.”

Knowles was responding to Wednesday’sDepartment of Justice report that racism is present in Ferguson’s police department.

Demonstrations erupted there last August when Darren Wilson, a white police officer, shot Brown, an unarmed black teen.

The Ferguson police department fired one police officer and placed two more on leave after the report’s release Wednesday. Knowles said his city “must do better” after the investigation’s conclusion.

“I think what’s important right now is that we go through every part of that report, find out where the breakdown was and the patterns and practices and these safeguards that we should have had in place and need to have in place to ensure that we protect the safety and the civil rights of everyone that comes to Ferguson and lives in the city of Ferguson,” Knowles said.

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